James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for that very welcome response. Before any of the announcements were made by the Trump Administration, the Government had made extremely clear that there would be a commitment to and focus on investment in infrastructure. Understandably, the focus of that additional investment is on housing and water but we must not forget about public transport. It is so essential for developing integrated cities. I say this not just about my own city but also about the Minister of State's city. We must do this right across the country.

One of the benefits of ensuring that we get this to a planning stage is that the contractors building these public transport projects, such as the Luas to Finglas, will know there is a pipeline of delivery into the future. If we are being truthful and honest, we will agree that one of the issues that has arisen in trying to develop additional light rail or even the MetroLink is that we have a history in this country of building major infrastructure projects and then stopping. Admittedly, one of the reasons we stopped after the cross city Luas was the challenging financial circumstances the State faced. There is, however, a change of approach now. This Government is focusing very heavily on capital investment. If there is one thing that is in our control in responding to what is taking place in the world right now, it is investing in infrastructure, housing, water infrastructure and, crucially, public transport to enable people to move around the city and get to work and to reflect the continuing demographic growth in our nation's capital.

I very much welcome that this project has been earmarked for potential acceleration in the context of the national development plan review in July. I will continue to raise it with my constituents. Having an integrated network would not only serve my constituency well; it would serve the whole of Dublin well.

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